Write Your Screenplay Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Life as a Writer: How to Build a Writing Lifestyle Sep 04, 2021

Show notes

Jake shares professional tips for prioritizing your writing goals as well as personal experiences for how to create your own writing lifestyle.

Ted Lasso: Is Your Screenplay Idea Good Enough? Aug 21, 2021

Show notes

Learn from Ted Lasso how to take a “seen it before” idea, and turn it into a transcendent screenplay.

Character Development Through Emotional Needs Aug 07, 2021

Show notes

Learn to develop multidimensional characters that you and your reader can care about, by connecting to your primal emotional needs.

How To Write a Logline Jul 10, 2021

Show notes

Learn how to write the perfect logline for your movie or TV show by understanding the key elements of top films and TV shows like Jaws, Brokeback Mountain, Bojack Horseman and Get Out.

Halston: How to write a likable main character Jun 23, 2021

Show notes

Learn from Halston what makes a character likable and how to make an audience root for an “unlikable” main character.

WandaVision: Genre, Structure, Theme, Engine and Your Voice as a Writer Jun 02, 2021

Show notes

Through a deep analysis of Wandavision’s genre, structure, theme and engine, Jake shows you how to apply the lessons of Wandavision to finding your own voice as a writer.

Up vs. Soul: What Theme is Driving Your Writing? May 08, 2021

Show notes

How do you fulfill your destiny as a writer? Jake examines how Pete Docter explores this question in two of his best works, Up and Soul, and reveals how struggling to be the writer you want to be may be the very thing that’s holding you back from being the writer you already are.

The Mandalorian: Where Hook Meets Engine Apr 24, 2021

Show notes

Jake discusses the hook and engine of The Mandalorian, the structural, character and thematic challenges that limited the engine to only two seasons, and how to apply those lessons when crafting an engine for your own original series.

One Night in Miami: Writing for Political Change Apr 03, 2021

Show notes

Jake discusses three elements of One Night in Miami: the way the screenplay lands its political message, the slightly old-fashioned way it uses exposition (it’s not perfect), and the simple power of a character’s secret as a tool for building structure.

Cobra Kai: How to Find Your Hook Mar 09, 2021

Show notes

Jake breaks down the hook, engine and structure of Cobra Kai, how to find your hook, and what to do if the engine of your TV series runs out of steam.